Random crap: Beginning with the second game of the August 25 doubleheader, Boston is 5-10. ... Since July 31, the Red Sox have stolen 17 bases in 20 attempts. ... The Sox have lost 17 of their last 23 games in Oakland.

1912 - Cleveland needs only 11 innings to sweep a doubleheader from the Red Sox. The first game is called because of rain after five innings with the Naps up 9-3. The rain stops and the second game is called because of darkness after six innings with Cleveland ahead 6-0.

1979 - Carl Yastrzemski's eighth inning single off New York's Jim Beattie is his 3,000th career hit. Boston beats the Yankees 9-2 at Fenway. Yaz finishes his career with 3,419 hits, the most in Red Sox history, 765 more than #2 Ted Williams (2,654).

It is under the gray "Scoring" tab here. Sometimes it's hard to remember where everything is. Every so often, I wander onto a page and am amazed at what I find. (Great minor league stats under "Other".)

So how do we interpret that statistic? Does it mean the bullpen has been less effective this year, as I tend to think? Or is it not statistically significant? Or does it mean the starter has blown it after the 6th inning?

Maybe the question is what the record was after seven innings, since it is rare that any starter goes 8 or 9 innings these days. Not that I have a clue how to do that search.

I'd probably avoid the post-game show anyway, except for the interview room segments.

Speaking of Dr. Nick, here he is today, writing about free agents, hometown discounts and players opting to sign long-term deals during their arb years:

"Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis could have gone into free agency rather than take a long-term deal from the Red Sox for less, but both of them love the team, the city, the atmosphere, and the medical care, so why give up all that to make a few extra bucks somewhere else ..."